Teddy Errico's Telluride Tales

The first two major festivals, MountainFilm and Telluride Bluegrass were up significantly over 2009.

Bluegrass Festival maxed out on Saturday with 11,860 people, while MountainFilm had its best year ever. More good signs pointing to a recovery of the Telluride economy and Telluride Real Estate market.

Numbers for Telluride Wine Festival were not readily available and we expect big crowds for the 4th of July!

At our Telluride Real Estate Corporation weekly meeting we were lucky to have Bruce Wright, of One Architects at our meeting.

First and foremost, Bruce is certainly a very good local architect and I have recommended him for jobs for clients.

Of the major topics of the meeting was current Telluride and Mountain Village building costs. For example, it was presented that square foot costs to build a nice high-end home in Mountain Village could be attained at $400 or even less. In Mountain Village the site work/prep is easier and as long as you do not have a detailed and “crazy” design with limited change orders, at an average Mountain Village size, say 5,000- 8,000 square feet, this still can happen. As for an “over the top” home, it can be built for under $600 per square foot.

The town of Telluride can be trickier and more expensive due to smaller lot sizes (starting at 2,500 square feet) that require dirt shore work, possibly larger foundations and smaller sized homes that lose any economies of scale.

As for timelines, they have been cut by as much as 25%- 33%.

Lot prices are very reasonable and as low as we have seen in years. Mountain Village lots start at $265,000 and there are excellent values across the Telluride Region.

Bottom line it is a great time to purchase a lot and build in Telluride

For everyone looking for a little four wheel drive adventure, the Imogene Road/Pass is open for the Summer Season.

Connecting Ouray, the gateway of the Million Dollar Highway, and hot springs pool to Telluride, with all of its festivals, golfing and variety, this drive soars to a height of over 13,100 feet above sea level. It is the highest pass in the San Juan Mountain range and 2nd highest pass in the state of Colorado and is not for the faint of heart. On the Telluride side, this pass heads through the ghost town of Tomboy which once had 900 residents and closed down in 1927 when the ore ran dry.

Stay tuned on the blog for an update on Telluride Real Estate and building cost/timelines.

More good news in the Telluride, Colorado (San Miguel County) Real Estate economy. Sales increased in May 2010 over not only May 2009, but May 2008 as well with a total dollar volume of $33.7 million in sales over 28 transactions.

2010 sales are now at a total of $168.6 million, which is smashing the “down” 2009 year which year to date stood at $75.9 million. We are also closing the gap on 2008, which year to date stood at $191.5 million.

Incredibly so, there are still a few good deals out there. For example, I was able to close Owl Meadows 15 on June 16th at $825,000. The last previous sale in the complex was $1,150,000 for a similar unit.

Last Friday night I was out to dinner with Real Estate clients at Telluride’s Rustico Restaurant. Serving Italian lunch and dinner, I have eaten here many times as a 15 year local.

However, for the first time it was recommended to order the Veal Osso Bucco. It was fantastic. Fall off the bone veal with a heary red sauce and on top of polenta. I am a picky Nee Yorker, when it comes to eating italian, so when something is done well, I figured I should let people know!

114 East Colorado Avenue Downtown Telluride. www.RusticoRistorante.com

Delta Airlines has announced it will add daliy flights into Montrose Airport (CODE MTJ) this upcoming 2010-11 winter, from December 18 through April 3 direct, to and from Atlanta.

Montrose Airport allows large jets and is just a 80-90 minute shuttle ride to Telluride. Great news to get the Southeast part of the country easier to Telluride!

Well for most of the day Monday and into Tuesday, Verizon cell service was down in Telluride and rumored to be out throughout the states of Wyoming and Colorado.

If you couldn’t get a hold of me to ask a real estate question, or contact your favorite Telluride business or friend, it was an inconvenient scenario. Things like this can happen in Telluride. Its all up and running now.

The weather has been amazing, topping out in the high 70’s and everything is getting green. Summer has finally arrived!